In the zoological park setting, there is the unique situation of
bringing animals and plants into the realm of people. Unlike an
ecotourism destination, where people are brought to natural habitats
and are expected to conform to nature’s ways, zoos possess the
strength, and the responsibility, to bring close-up nature
experiences to a large and broad audience. Here, nature and
architecture must meet and natural elements must be manipulated for
the sake of accessibility. Zoo visitors have very unique design
needs, as do captive animals. The needs of these two audiences are
often thought to be in conflict with one another.

The foremost goal of most zoological institutions is to use the
entertainment value of live animals and re-created foreign worlds to
draw people into an educational situation, in which they will learn
about and gain respect for the animals they are observing, as well as
nature in general. Encouraging visitors to lengthen their stay in the
park is important to increase these educational opportunities, as
well as increase the institution’s income (from concessions
sales, for example) so that it can continue to thrive and carry out
its work.

Visitors spend the most time at an animal exhibit when the animals
are close-up and active (fig. 1). Most animals however, prefer
to keep their distance from their human observers, if space allows.
When space doesn’t allow, i.e. they are in a small enclosure
with no visual cover, these animals suffer psychologically, resulting
in their being inactive, or in their performing unnatural and
undesirable behaviors. Unnatural behaviors detract from the
educational value of the exhibit, as they do not accurately represent
wild animals. The sight of an unhealthy or unhappy animal will not
instill in visitors a sense of awe for the natural world and may
contribute to a poor reputation of zoos.

However, give animals vast, heavily-planted spaces in zoos, in which
they can lead a natural lifestyle in relative privacy, and visitors
will not be able to benefit from observing them, as the animals will
too often be out of view. This is why designing animal exhibits that
are truly based on wild situations, and considering only the absolute
needs of the animals, is often secondary in zoo exhibit design.

In investigating gorilla exhibits at 17 European and North American
zoos over the past year, discussing animal keeping with numerous
professionals, and learning about how people learn in casual
settings, I have found that satisfying the needs of both captive
gorillas and visitors in the zoo setting are not mutually exclusive.
Rather, when an exhibit is designed with the natural needs of
gorillas in mind, the visitors’ needs are simultaneously
supported.

Gorillas have great attracting power – visitors are usually
eager to see the large, mysterious animals that are so human-like
(fig 2). However, gorillas are very elusive animals and not
particularly active, decreasing their holding power, or their ability
to hold the attention of visitors. Holding power can be increased by
encouraging animal activity (through supporting natural behaviors)
and increasing their viewability by visitors (Seidensticker &
Doherty). The recommendations in this paper all support one of these
objectives, with an emphasis on solutions reached through
horticultural means. I hope that the ideas I have generated about
designing for gorillas can be applied to other species as well.